Zach Klutz of the Taft Law Firm, bond counsel to the city, presented the first reading of Ordinance 25-49 authorizing the Westfield Redevelopment Authority (RDA) to issue lease-rental bonds to fund road and street projects in the city's capital improvement plan. Klutz said the bonds would be issued by the Redevelopment Authority, secured by lease-rental payments and backed by a special benefit tax levy by the Redevelopment Commission.
Klutz said the ordinance authorizes bonds in a maximum principal amount not to exceed $40,000,000, with a term not to exceed 20 years and an interest rate not to exceed 6 percent; final terms will be set when the bonds are priced. He said the RDA and Redevelopment Commission are scheduled to hold authorizing resolutions and a public hearing next Monday and the city council is expected to consider the ordinance for second reading and possible adoption at its meeting on the 25th of the month.
Why it matters: If adopted, the bond authorization would allow the RDA to fund multiple road and street improvements identified in the city's capital plan. The ordinance contains statutory consents and approvals necessary for the issuance and contemplates a future public hearing and final council action when the bond structure is finalized.
No vote was taken on the ordinance at first reading; Klutz said bond pricing is anticipated in early October with a late-October closing and funding timetable. Council members had no substantive questions at the presentation and the item will return for formal action at a future meeting.